This scan shows multiple screws in a patient’s pelvis that Orthopedic & Sports Institute’s Mako robot had to navigate around to perform a hip replacement.
This scan shows multiple screws in a patient’s pelvis that Orthopedic & Sports Institute’s Mako robot had to navigate around to perform a hip replacement.
This scan shows multiple screws in a patient’s pelvis that Orthopedic & Sports Institute’s Mako robot had to navigate around to perform a hip replacement.
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This scan shows multiple screws in a patient’s pelvis that Orthopedic & Sports Institute’s Mako robot had to navigate around to perform a hip replacement.
This scan shows multiple screws in a patient’s pelvis that Orthopedic & Sports Institute’s Mako robot had to navigate around to perform a hip replacement.
This scan shows multiple screws in a patient’s pelvis that Orthopedic & Sports Institute’s Mako robot had to navigate around to perform a hip replacement.
It’s no secret that Orthopedic & Sports Institute of the Fox Valley’s (OSI) Mako robot is extraordinarily precise.
In fact, it’s precise enough to perform a hip replacement without hitting any of the 40 screws in a patient’s pelvis.
According to OSI surgeon Dr. David Eggert, years ago a woman fell while shopping in Milwaukee and broke her acetabulum, which is part of the pelvis that forms the socket connecting to the femur.
Her then-doctors put 40 screws in her pelvis, which resulted in the patient experiencing “tons of pain” and developing arthritis after the initial surgery.
When the woman came to Eggert about three years ago, he told her, “I’ve never done this before, but I think this would be the perfect application for the robot.”
Eggert was able to use the robot’s precision to fix the hip and avoid the screws, which was no small task.
“There were so many screws and plates that it almost seemed impossible to even do the hip replacement without touching a screw,” Eggert said. “The issue with making contact with a screw is that it could potentially create an electrical charge, and that could cause loosening of the new joint.”
The robot was able to create a scan of the patient that showed exactly where the screws were and how to manipulate the components in a way that would avoid the screws.
Thanks to the combination of Eggert’s expertise and the precision of the Mako robot, the procedure went off without a hitch.
“We could move the components a millimeter this way, two millimeters that way, so we avoided every screw,” Eggert said.
The robot enabled Eggert to sculpt (or ream) the cup of the hip in such a way that didn’t go too deep.
“We didn’t go too superior, we didn’t go too inferior,” Eggert said. “The way we do that is that the arm of the robot locks us into position. After we ream it, we put the artificial cup (the acetate shell) exactly in the position that we wanted to put it.”
He added that the procedure would have been possible without the robot, but it would have been compromised.
“There’s not a lot of margin for error,” he said. “Can you do it? Sure. But let’s say that you start hitting screws, what do you do? You compromise your plan because you’ve hit these screws, so it’s going to be at increased risk of dislocation.”
When using robotic-assisted technology, the failure rate for joint replacement falls dramatically.
“It’s been shown that dislocation rates are lower when using the robot,” Eggert said. “It’s better for the patient from a lot of standpoints.”
Dr. David Eggert is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and performs anterior hip replacement surgery with the Orthopedic & Sports Institute of the Fox Valley (OSI). OSI has a team of highly-trained physicians ready to diagnose and treat an array of orthopedic issues, with locations in Ripon, Appleton, New London, Oshkosh, Shawano and Waupaca.
Orthopedic & Sports Institute of the Fox Valley is part of the Ripon Area Preferred Business Program.
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